Dr Qinghua Zeng is a senior lecturer in engineering materials in the School of Computing, Engineering and Mathematics at Western Sydney University (WSU). He is the academic course advisor for postgraduate engineering program. Prior to joining WSU, Dr Zeng has been a research associate, ARC postdoctoral fellow, and lecturer in the School of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) for 6 years after completing his Ph. D there in 2004. Prior to that, Dr Zeng is a metallurgical engineer at General Research Institute for Non-ferrous Metals (Beijing, GRINM) for 10 years. He received his M Eng. (1995) and B Eng. (1989) in mineral processing from GRINM and Jiangxi University of Science and Technology, respectively. He is a member of Institution of Engineers Australia, ARC Australian Research for Advanced Materials, and ARC Nanotechnology Network.
Dr Zeng’s research interests include polymer composites, nanomaterials and nanostructures, smart and sustainable materials, materials physics and chemistry, computational materials science, separation science and engineering. His areas of research and expertise are:
- Nanoparticle reinforced polymer nanocomposites
- Nanoparticles: synthesis, characterisation, inter-particle force, and self-assembly
- Advanced catalysts for energy and environmental applications
- Fly ash reinforced polymer composites
- Gas adsorption and separation in metal-organic frameworks
- Molecular modelling and simulation
- Multiscale modelling of nanomaterials and nanostructures
- Mineral processing and separation
Dr Zeng has received research grants from Australian Research Council (ARC, including Discovery Project, Linkage Project, ARC APD fellow, LIEF grant), National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), UNSW, and WSU. He is an active researcher in ARC Centre of Excellence for Functional Nanomaterials (2004-2010) and a chief investigator in ARC Research Hub for Computational Particle Technology (2015-2020). Dr Zeng has over 100 publications including journal papers and book chapters. He is a regular reviewer for journals, research theses, conference papers, and research proposals.